Scotland Tonight: Young people explain how they cope with a cancer diagnosis

Getting a cancer diagnosis shortly after turning 21 would be devastating for most people, but for Erin Lavery, it was a relief.

The young nail technician suffered from escalating symptoms for a year before being sent for tests by her GP.

She told doctors about a lump in her neck and said she suffered from a range of symptoms, including a persistent cough, shortness of breath, and extreme fatigue.

“The last time that I went to the doctors, I was hysterical,” Erin told Scotland Tonight.

“I was saying ‘something is really wrong here, I feel like everything’s connected’. And she was like ‘no, no, it’s low iron.'”

By the time Erina was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she actually felt relieved.

“I was at the point where I thought I was going crazy. I was going to the doctors so much that I was thinking: ‘How can nothing be wrong here?'”

Cancer diagnosis among under 50s is on the rise. But Erin says it was difficult to find bespoke information and support for young adults.

In order to help other people her age going through a similar experience, Erin began documenting her experience on TikTok. She’s built a community of followers with her honest content about living with cancer.

“It’s just incredible,” she said.

“They’ve watched me go through the whole chemo journey, so if they are about to start their own treatment, they think: ‘OK, well, this was what she was doing, she was on it.’ And they can kind of start to gauge what it’s actually like.”

Erin has praised the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre for supporting her and her family throughout her treatment.

She was back there earlier this month to celebrate being cancer-free. “It just doesn’t feel real getting that news. It’s just amazing,” she said.

Paolo Lizzeri’s diagnosis experience was very different from Erin’s – it came as a huge shock.

He was 25 and recently graduated when he was first told he had lymphoma.

“I had a lump in my neck, I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Paolo told Scotland Tonight.

“I was very young, and I thought I was invincible. I didn’t think anything like this would happen, but I went to the doctor anyway to get checked.

“I got a biopsy, and about a week later, I got referred to the hospital.

“I went by myself. The doctors sat me down and said, ‘you’ve got Hodgkin’s lymphoma’ and my world crumbled around me.

“I still remember the feeling. It was a bit of a shock, but then it was straight into ‘how are we going to deal with this?’

After eight months of intensive treatment, Paolo was better and back at work. However, he relapsed three years later.

This time, the treatment was more intense, including a stem cell transplant. But the cancer returned, for a second time, and then a third.

“Well, the first time it was novel. I had never really had intravenous drugs or anything like that,” said Paolo. “I was worried about that. The second time, I thought I knew more about what to expect and what was coming, so I wasn’t as worried about the treatment itself.

“It was more of a shock, thinking ‘am I going to die?’

“Then the third time I got a real fright because I was like ‘oh, God, what’s gonna happen this time?’ I made a terrible mistake of checking the statistics for survival, and it was 50/50, so it was a coin flip. It flipped the right way, which is good.”

Paolo credits his support system of family and friends for getting him through the past seven years, including a stem cell transplant courtesy of his brother.

His third round of treatment provided an opportunity to document his journey on YouTube.

“I figured that by documenting the process and showing people what it’s actually like, perhaps it could alleviate some of those anxieties and fears for others,” he said. “And it seems to have done that for a few people, which is, which is really, really nice.”

After years of gruelling treatment, the 32-year-old is incredibly resilient and positive about the future.

He said: “I very much have my eyes set on the horizon, and after three times, you kind of get a bit comfortable that things might not go your way, and that’s OK.

“So ultimately I just look forward, doing my best to try and build, and if it all goes t*** up at some point, that’s fine. We’ll deal with that and cross that bridge when we get to it.”

You can watch Scotland Tonight: Young and Coping with Cancer at 8.30pm on STV or catch up on the STV Player.